Negombo, Sri Lanka

13Mar

Negombo, Sri Lanka

Mirissa was so beautiful and I kept pondering when to leave. But mornings are good for decisions and I woke up at 5:00 am, packed and went for the sunrise to the temple on top of the hill. Again, if you are living on the beach why sleep? The sunrise was OK but not so spectacular and I decided for the last bath in Mirissa at 6:30 am. The Ocean was as warm as somebody would have boiled it over night. For now I’d accumulate heat and I will chill in the Atlantic in the Long Island summer. Around 7:15 am I left and I boarded the first bus to Colombo, a small AC bus (370Rs) that brought me in exactly 4 hours in the city. From there I jumped right away in a beaten red rattler that was going to Negombo (23rs) that took more than 90 minutes for less than 30 km. Now I understood why nobody wants to go to Colombo and in all guide books is mentioned the traffic. The traffic jam is for miles and is combined with the fact that the city sprawled and the traffic is the same for miles before the bus stop. Between the two buses, out of the 5 hours it took to get to Negombo, probably 90 minutes were spent crawling in the city.

In Negombo I took the first tuk-tuk that brought me to Ocean View Guest House, on the Shore Road, and found a hotel near by, Angel’s Inn (3000Rs) and start exploring in the midday heat after a short late breakfast. Unfortunately I cannot tell that I am impressed. The city has a long main street where are tons of restaurant, shops, gems places, resorts, etc. very typical for such a town. The main hotels are very large and the crowd that occupied it is for sure not my cup of tea. For the other travelers, Negombo is just the place that is the closest to the airport and you can spend the night at the beach. I went to the main street for several km and I did some final shopping in Sri Lanka and after a bath in the Ocean, peeking at a traditional wedding on the beach, the sunset and another bath in the Ocean close to dark, I went in town for a dinner of prawns and doing the blog in the same time. For sure Negombo lacks the charm of both Tangalle and Mirissa, being meant to compensate with luxury accommodations and spas, people coming here mainly to be pampered. I arranged for tuk-tuk for tomorrow morning, (800Rs, 25 minutes) to go to the airport and I will do the last shopping in Sri Lanka.